WJA’s team selected to design St. Petersburg waterfront project

ST. PETERSBURG — Two architectural firms that lost a bid to design the city’s new pier have won the $20 million project that will link the waterfront landmark to the booming downtown.

The team of W Architecture and Landscape Architecture of New York and St. Petersburg’s Wannemacher Jensen beat out four others vying to design what is envisioned as a sweeping gateway to complement the new pier.

The Pier Approach Project, as it is being called, will encompass areas of Bayshore Boulevard and Beach Drive and is expected to include elements such as a grand entry, pedestrian art promenade, an art bridge, an open-air market and two restaurants.

“I’m ecstatic to help make a better community and to have a role in the final, visible outcome,” Jensen said Friday.